In recent years, with advancements of automation in a variety of sectors, apparatuses have been automatically dealing with transactions using notes such as paper money, securities, certificates of tax payments, book coupons, beer coupons, a variety of tickets and admission tickets.
Specific constructions of such apparatuses (hereinafter termed notes accepting apparatuses) differ depending on kinds of the notes to be processed by the apparatuses. For instance, the notes accepting apparatus that treats paper money normally includes an inserting/discharging unit, a discriminating unit, a storing unit, a carry mechanism, a storing unit, an operation unit and a control unit.
The inserting/discharging unit is connected to the discriminating unit and to the storing unit via the carry mechanism for carrying the paper money, and functions as a inserting port and a discharging port for the paper money. The operation unit is a unit for transferring and receiving information between a user and the control unit, and has an information display function and an information input function.
The control unit controls each of the units, corresponding to an operation executed for the operation unit. For instance, when operating the operational unit to indicate a receipt of the paper money, the control unit controls the inserting/discharging unit to prepare for accepting the paper money. Then, when detecting a completion of the insertion of the paper money, the control units starts control to supply the discriminating unit with the paper money sheet by sheet from within the inserting/discharging unit. Note that this control is executed mainly for the carry mechanism provided between the inserting/discharging unit and the discriminating unit.
The discriminating unit discriminates a face value of a sheet of paper money carried by the carry mechanism from the inserting unit. Further, the discriminating unit makes a discrimination as to whether or not the paper money (note) carried is paper money to be treated by the notes accepting apparatus (which is hereinafter referred to as an appropriate paper money). Note that empirically prescribed discriminating conditions are given to the notes accepting apparatus in order not to accept forge paper money and not to discharge appropriate but stained and partially torn-up paper money.
Thereafter, the control unit controls the carry mechanism so that the paper money about which the discrimination by the discriminating unit has been finished, is carried to a unit corresponding to a result of the discrimination. More specifically, the control unit controls the carry mechanism so that the paper money discriminated as appropriate is stored in the storing unit according to a face value, while the paper money such as a heterogenous note mistakenly inserted and forge paper money, is returned to the inserting/discharging unit.
Further, the control unit, when operated to indicate the operation unit to pay the money, the control unit controls the respective units so that an indicated amount of paper money is taken out of the storing unit and carried to the inserting/discharging unit.
Now, the use of the forge notes is a criminal, and hence it is desirable that the notes accepting apparatus incorporates a function capable of detecting that the forge notes are used. However, the note discriminates as inappropriate by the discriminating unit can not be judged to be the forge note. Therefore, the prior art notes accepting apparatus has not function to judge from a result of the discrimination made by the discriminating unit whether or not the forge notes are inserted. The prior art notes accepting apparatus is, however, constructed so that data about a content of transaction are stored inside the apparatus. Hence, if it proves that the discriminating unit fails to discriminate with the result that the forge notes are accepted, pieces of information on the time when the forge notes are used and so on can be obtained from the data described above. In the case of the discriminating unit makes a successful discrimination even when the forge notes are inserted, however, it never happens that the forge notes are stored inside the apparatus. Accordingly, what is obtained in this case is just the information on the time at which to implement a transaction where the forge notes might have been used, i.e., the information unusable for verifying the criminal act.
Further, it has also been practiced that a video camera for monitoring is provided for recording a figure of the user of the notes accepting apparatus. A content of recording, however, comes to have a meaning only when the forge note happens to be accepted.